Why I Give Thanks For The Cloud

Why I Give Thanks For The Cloud

In a few days, I’ll be plowing into pounds of protein and watching each of “Friends’” ten Thanksgiving Day episodes. But before I don my bib and elastic sweatpants, I wanted to share my reasons for expressing gratitude to the cloud above.

It’s given me a way into the “techie” world. My college’s technology obsessives, known as “techies,” deflated any interest I had in all things virtual, digital, computerized, etc. They lived for JavaScript and unpacking IP addresses. I studied English. At galleries, I’d analyze Picasso paintings for their brushstrokes. I read cookbooks, not code. Fast-forward a few years later, when the cloud burst onto the scene. Cloud computing’s usefulness helped me see how technology can actually help all of us — even those who earned a C+ in C++. Even bookworms like me can come out of our apples and find something yummily techie to munch on.

It’s streamlined my life in NYC. Having lived in Brooklyn for awhile now, I can attest to the cliche’s truthfulness: New York City actually never sleeps. Just last night, I bounced from Williamsburg to the Jacob Javitz Center, in Midtown West, to enjoy “Meet The Breeds,” an annual celebration of purebred dogs and cats. Instead of heading home, I took the subway to Columbia, the uptown collegiate neighborhood where my good friend resides. Yet I had a telephone conference that evening with my boss, traveling in Hong Kong. Thanks to DropBox, a genius cloud app, every file pertinent to our conversation was right there with me — no need to return to Brooklyn just yet. Cloud computing keeps me connected and levelheaded, in a city where the days and nights are wonderful and random.

It makes Turkey Day a peaceful day. Thanksgiving is my time to overdose on protein, carbs, and sitcom marathons. I want to gorge without fear that my gluttony will be disturbed. But business doesn’t halt for holidays, and many phone calls and incessant texts will annoy already frazzled workers this Thursday as well. Cloud computing can rescue our days to eat, drink, and be merry. Whoever needs to reach us can simply place our files in the cloud, letting us get to them once we’ve successfully emerged from our food comas. Do your boss a favor: baste his inbox with some news about cloud computing’s assets. You will both be happier, and a bit more thankful.

Jeff Norman is a freelance writer currently based in New York City. He's moved into writing about cloud computing from substantial work in culture and the arts. He earned his undergraduate degree in English at Stanford and has studied at Oxford and Cambridge.

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